Charges eyed vs owners of socmed account spreading fake news vs mining firm exec
SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 16 June) — A mining company said it is closely monitoring a social media account said to be spreading “fake news” to besmirch the reputation of its top executive.
In a statement, the Philsaga Mining Corp. Public Information Office said it already reported to the Philippine National Police Cybercrime Division and the National Bureau of Investigation the names involved in the Facebook account that was spreading false information against PMC president lawyer Raul C. Villanueva.
“They are all reported and we will file charges against them. This will qualify as a cyberlibel violation. Not only those who posted it but those who joined the fray,” the statement said.
It said it has traced the names of owner of the Facebook page “Ako Agusanon” but added they are withholding them pending an investigation by intelligence operatives.
“We are considering to file copyright complaint against them for using video footage during the solidarity movement without permission. However, we are not worried about the comments on their posts since it appears that these were dummy accounts or trolls just to boost their engagements,” the statement said.
It said the solidarity movement refers to the expression of support on April 3 this year staged by the different Manobo Lumad communities holding Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title No. 136 to the Philsaga Employees Labor Union, which is supporting Villanueva.
PMC has been rocked by a controversy owing to claims by one Joseph Mahusay that he has replaced Villanueva as company president as the latter has sold his 125,000 shares of stock.
Mahusay is the barangay chairman of Pansol in Quezon City and the security escort of Jeff McGlinn, managing director of X64, the Australian partner of PMC, whenever the latter would visit the country
But Villanueva said he never sold his stocks and that these are still in his name.
Early this year, PMC severed ties with X64 after McGlinn and its Hong Kong trading partner Komo Diti failed to remit some USD 4.8 million for the PMC share, depriving CADT 136 of royalties as the site of the firm’s mining operations.
McGlinn set up his own set of board of directors still using PMC’s corporate name with Mahusay as the new president.
The PMC statement asked the public not to believe reports published in national broadsheets over the past few weeks referring to Mahusay as the new president.
In a related development, Rep. Adolph Edward Plaza of Agusan del Sur 2nd District has categorically denied he has recognized Mahusay as the new PMC president.
The lawmaker’s denial came in the wake of a report published in a newspaper based in Cagayan de Oro City that Mahusay visited Plaza in his congressional office in Quezon City to inform him that he is the new PMC president and that the latter supported him.
Part of the report said: “Mahusay’s designation as the newest president of PMC was affirmed by Congressman Plaza, Representative of District II in the Province of Agusan del Sur, ensuring that all government offices are made aware of the management change.
In the same news report, Mahusay quoted Plaza as saying, “As legitimate president of PMC, I want to emphasize unequivocally that I wholeheartedly support the current board and their efforts to date. They have demonstrated unwavering dedication and have proven themselves to be competent and trustworthy custodians of our company’s interests.
The online news report was no longer accessible as of Wednesday morning.
Plaza, whose district covers PMC’s mining site, denied Mahusay’s claim and told Villanueva through a Viber message that he instead told Mahusay that he would not interfere in what has now become a legal issue.
“He just laughed off that his name was dragged in Mahusay’s claims,” Villanueva told reporters in a live Zoom interview on Tuesday.
Villanueva showed the screenshot of their conversation through a Facebook Messenger group chat.
He said Plaza would not mind if the Viber chat would be used as proof of the conversation because he wanted to detach himself from the impending legal battle. (Chris V. Panganiban/MindaNews)
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